A keen weather watcher received a birthday present to remember when he got up close and personal with a tornado in the North East.

Graeme Henry, of New Ridley, near Stocksfield, was looking out his bedroom window on Saturday afternoon as storms hit the region, in the hope of snapping pictures of lightning strikes.

But he got more than he bargained for when he captured video of the mini twister just 200 yards away – making the celebration for his 35th extra special.

Graeme, who creates bespoke garden furniture for The Shabby Chic Shed at Tyne Valley Garden Centre in Mickley, said: “Suddenly I saw above the horizon that the clouds started to change dramatically and the wind really picked up.

“I ran down into the back garden because I knew something was about to happen, and I called my mum out.

“Then the tunnel started to form over the next field – it was clear to see and touched the ground, but it dissipated when it reached the houses.”

He added: “I never expected to see a tornado in my life, especially not at the bottom of my garden. I felt quite giddy. It was a fantastic birthday present.”

A Met Office spokesman said the spectacle was due to unstable air within the higher clouds.

He added: “We do get funnel clouds at times in the UK, but they are normally small and relatively weak compared to the giant destructive forces we see in areas of America.

“They become tornadoes when they touch the ground but generally we have to rely on witness accounts as our systems do not pick them up.

“Unstable air results in air moving up and down within the higher clouds and that leads to rotation of air. It then needs to suck up air into the cloud and that is when you see descending cloud tips that enter the sky.”